In the bone-dry language of a federal indictment, he is referred to as a "nominee" who delivered "thousands of dollars" in cash and checks to former Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro.

To everyone familiar with the case, he is Al Hughes, a West Scranton funeral director who is expected to be a key witness in the public corruption case against Mr. Cordaro and fellow defendant Commissioner A.J. Munchak.

Mr. Cordaro, who lost his re-election bid in 2007, and Mr. Munchak, who continues to serve as Republican minority commissioner, are scheduled to go on trial June 6 in Scranton on 41 counts, including extortion, racketeering and tax evasion.

In a series of interviews with The Sunday Times, Mr. Hughes acknowledged being the middleman or "nominee" referred to in a superseding federal indictment that claims a company paid Mr. Cordaro "thousands of dollars in cash and checks" to ensure timely payment of bills, maintain existing county contracts and obtain new ones.

The company, referred to only as "Co. #2" in the indictment, was Acker Associates and its principal in the scheme was P.J. McLaine, according to Mr. Hughes. Acker, a civil engineering firm, was dissolved in 2010 about the same time Mr. McLaine's retirement was announced. Mr. McLaine could not be reached for comment for this story.

In his conversations with The Times, Mr. Hughes told how he would meet Mr. McLaine once a month, usually at a restaurant in Dunmore, where Mr. McLaine would hand him an envelope containing $10,000, money he said he delivered to Mr. Cordaro.

"I was just doing a favor for Bobby and P.J.," Mr. Hughes said. "They were my friends, I thought."

In its initial indictment filed in March 2010, the federal government contended Mr. Cordaro was paid about $360,000 by Co. #2 from January 2005 through January 2008.

A superseding indictment filed this March largely removed specific dollar amounts from many of the instances cited, although the charges remained largely intact.

Neither Mr. Cordaro nor his attorney, William Costopoulos, responded to requests for comment on this story. Mr. Cordaro, however, has repeatedly professed his innocence and in public statements has claimed the charges against him are politically motivated and based "on the lies of government witnesses."

Mr. Munchak's attorney, Chris Powell, declined to discuss Mr. Hughes. He did say, however, that the government's case breaks down into three categories: kickbacks and extortion, failure to report political campaign donations and failure to pay income taxes.

"I'm very confident that he'll be found innocent," he said of his client.

Mr. Munchak also declined to comment but, like his co-defendant, has loudly and often proclaimed his innocence and has confidently predicted his acquittal. He and Mr. Cordaro have both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

His role in the case, Mr. Hughes explained, dates back to shortly after Mr. Cordaro and Mr. Munchak became majority commissioners in 2004, when the two Republicans ended a 20-year grip the Democrats had on the county's top office. That's when he was approached by Mr. McLaine, he said.

The commissioners had just named CECO Associates of Scranton as the county engineers and Mr. McLaine was worried his company might lose county business or no longer be considered for county contracts, Mr. Hughes recalled.

Mr. McLaine asked Mr. Hughes if he could intercede with Mr. Cordaro on Acker's behalf, Mr. Hughes said. When he did, Mr. Cordaro told Mr. Hughes to have Mr. McLaine call the commissioners office and make an appointment to see Mr. Cordaro, Mr. Hughes recounted. He said Mr. McLaine later said, "Bobby was real nice to him."

About a month later, Mr. McLaine called and he and Mr. McLaine met again, Mr. Hughes said. Mr. McLaine gave him an envelope "to give to Bobby," Mr. Hughes said.

Although he did not look inside the first envelope, it was clear from what transpired later that it was the first of what turned into monthly payments of $10,000, which were originally made in cash, he said.

Later, Mr. McLaine began paying with checks, Mr. Hughes said. The checks were drawn on Mr. McLaine's company and made payable to Mr. Hughes, he explained. Mr. Hughes said he would deposit the checks in his own account and later withdraw cash to give to Mr. Cordaro. When he did not have time to get to the bank, he would write Mr. Cordaro a check, he said.

"It was always the same amount - $10,000," he said, adding he wrote about half a dozen checks to Mr. Cordaro over the time in question.

Mr. Hughes said he was not paid for what he did, "not one penny." He did it as a favor to Mr. Cordaro and Mr. McLaine, he said. Even if he wanted to pocket some of the cash, it wasn't possible, he said, noting "I couldn't take any money. Bobby knew how much money he was getting every month."

He recalled getting a phone call from Mr. Cordaro one day, not long after Mr. Hughes had given him an envelope of cash. "He said it was $100 short," Mr. Hughes said. "I said, 'You better go back to the bank and talk to the teller.' "

According to both indictments, Co. #2 had checks issued to the "nominee" which were disguised as "consulting fees" and duly reported on the 1099 form companies are required to file with the Internal Revenue Service. The nominee then gave Mr. Cordaro the money in either cash or checks, the indictments say.

From January 2005 through January 2008, Mr. Cordaro collected about $360,000 from the arrangement, the initial indictment contended.

Mr. Hughes confirmed the payments had been reported by Acker to the IRS and said every year around tax time, Mr. McLaine would personally give him money to pay the taxes due on the reported "income."

Although he insisted he received nothing from the Acker deal, Mr. Hughes benefited in other ways from his relationship with Mr. Cordaro. He was a partner, for instance, with friend Glenn Gress in Concessions Plus Inc., a firm that was given a no-bid contract to run the concession at what was then known as the Lackawanna County stadium.

The contract ended in controversy when Concessions Plus was fired in January 2009 and the stadium contract was given to a firm partly owned by the New York Yankees. The Yankees and Mandalay Baseball Properties, which run the local Yankees affiliate, evicted Concessions Plus and later sued the firm in federal court over breach of contract. Concessions Plus has filed a countersuit. Both suits are pending.

Mr. Hughes also acknowledged being a party to a deal involving construction of a cellphone tower at the county's new 911 center. According to the superseding indictment, Mr. Cordaro entered into an agreement in 2006 with four individuals to build the tower.

Built by a company called John Brayfee LLC, the tower was purchased by the county for $257,933 with Mr. Cordaro receiving one-fifth of the profits or about $14,000, according to both indictments. Mr. Hughes, who along with the other parties in the deal also made $14,000 and admitted to delivering $14,000 to Mr. Cordaro, said Mr. McLaine was also a partner in the deal. He said he did not recall who the other two principals were.

No one else has been charged in any aspect of the case, including vendors who allegedly paid what the federal government is now describing as bribes and kickbacks.

Neither the companies nor the individuals who allegedly made the payments have been identified by prosecutors. But the government has issued as many as 15 letters of immunity to potential witnesses, including Mr. McLaine, sources say.

Mr. Hughes said he has not received a letter of immunity but federal investigators have raised the possibility. He insists both the concession and the cell tower deals were legitimate business ventures as far as he was concerned. He admits now he "got in over his head" and describes the last five years as "torture" and "terrible." His wife and children left him over fallout from the case, he said, and now he's convinced his involvement was no accident.

Looking back at it now, he feels like "a dummy, a sucker," he said. "They just needed a middleman to take the fall if something went wrong. What did they need me for?"

Mr. Hughes said he expects Mr. Cordaro's defense to be outright denial with the defense contending that, if there was any money paid, it went into Mr. Hughes' pocket.

He also expects the defense to cast him in the worst possible light as a man who likes to live beyond his means, hang out at country clubs, gamble and spend a lot of money on expensive horses, a particular passion of his daughter who traveled in equine circles that included Bruce Springsteen's daughter.

"He's going to say he didn't get the money from me," he said. "That's a total lie. I have canceled checks I got from him."

His lawyer, he said, has been provided copies of the canceled checks, which were apparently obtained from his bank by investigators. They appear to be part of the prosecution's case, he said. He also acknowledged he has been questioned extensively by federal investigators about his involvement with Mr. Cordaro.

His lawyer has also warned him to be prepared, he said, because, if he should have to testify, it will be "the worst day of my life."

"All I am is stupid," he said, his voice tinged with regret. "Everything I had is gone."

Contact the writer: jmcdonald@timesshamrock.com

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